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tv   Piers Morgan Tonight  CNN  July 12, 2012 6:00pm-7:00pm PDT

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actually sent an exotic photo, shall we say, of nicolas cage. we can check in with mr. cage just again? >> i was a little drunk. plus, i was horny. >> thank you. don't despair. you've now attached to a cageful of fun on the riduculist. another edition of "360" at 10:00 p.m. eastern. tonight, the interview everyone's talking about. >> i've never allowed anybody to ask me the questions you're asking. now the a-list defense attorney who got robert blake bailed and quit the case, tom mesereau, tells me about his client and what he thout of the interview. plus, penn state blasted for not protecting child victims. i'll talkpaterno's lies forever tarnished his legacy. two of my favorite guests return.
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we'll mix it up over president obama's naacp absence. and on this -- [ booing ] plus, from newsman to newsroom, why dan rather says the hbo drama gets it absolutely right. and funny man john littquisimo. >> it saddens me they would treat them this way. >> this is "piers morgan tonight." my extraordinary interview with robert blake. he was controversial. a bit on the edge. especially when i asked him about his murder of his wife, bonny lee bakley. >> i mean, i was worth $25 million. i could have hired somebody to kill her when she was in tibet or some place. she drove all over the country. she was out selling, doing her -- i could have hired somebody to follow her for ten months and make her disappear so nobody would ever find he for christ's sake. i would go out to dinner to kill her? what the [ bleep ]'s the matter
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with you! >> i didn't say you killed her. >> you didn't say i didn't. you said it's all very interesting. >> well, it was all indeed very interesting. joining me now, more on our big stories. tom mesereau. robert blake's attorney till he quit citing irreconcilable differences. you watched the interview. >> i did. >> you know robert blake. you represented him. you get him out on bail. what was your reaction to the interview? >> i had many re, anactions. robert's been through a lot of ups and downs. the period where i knew him was a very difficult, very dark gloomy period. he spent 11 months in l.a. county jail. the worst jail in america. he always professed his innocence. from the time i first met him, till the time i last talked to him. he has always said, i'm innocent. the more i looked at the evidence, the evidence vindicated robert blake. they had a gun they could not tie to him. it was not his gun.
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they looked at dna. they looked at fingerprints. they found oil on the gun. they tried to trace the oil to oil under his hood in his car. they couldn't do that. then they did a search internationally to try to figure out where this gun had come from. what hands it went through. they couldn't tie it to robert. he didn't have gunshot residue on him sufficient with someone who fired a gun. they went into his house. they being the police. there are so many ways he was mistreated. i don't blame him for being very, very upset with the whole thing. >> did you believe him? >> absolutely i believed him. it wasn't just robert saying he was innocent. look at the evidence. the witnesses against him were laughable. they told inconsistent stories. they had questionable motives. the police went to the crime scene. one of the first calls they made was to bring a book author to chronicle the whole thing. the next day they searched his house. they brought the book author with him. they couldn't trace any bullets to robert blake. i don't blame him for being upset. >> given the extraordinary background of his wife, bonny,
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he was her tenth husband. she had this extraordinary con artist background. clearly mixed with very undesirable types. what did you think, by the end, was the most likely story for how she died? >> i think she burned men all across america. not just burned men, burned their families. she was a national con artist. she went state to state. befriended elderly men. she had them put her on their will. she burned a million people. i mean, it was almost scandalous. and i am absolutely convinced that somebody or their family, whom she burned, went after her and shot her. >> i thought it was interesting he said very clearly, look, once i got together with her, once i married her, people began to know where we were living. i was a famous actor. it wasn't hard to find out where we were. we were eating locally. it was quite compelling, that part of it. amid all the crazy aspect of
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what he was saying. underneath it all, i kept asking myself, if he's an innocent man, if he didn't do this, if he didn't kill his wife, he's been the subject of a grotesque miscarriage of justice. >> he was vindicated by a jury in a criminal case. found liable in a civil case. i don't know what happened in that courtroom. i wasn't there. it hurt his reputation. >> let's watch another clip from last night. him talking about the police. >> about those rotten bastard cops that ripped my guts out and left me beside the road to die. i get to those son of [ bleep ] later but don't think you're going to get off the hook. i didn't die. you didn't get your book deals, your mothers. i wrote a book about you. so you'll have to go out and rip some other celebrity till he's dead, then write a book about him. i'm sorry.
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i'm back. >> do you think the police behaved inappropriately? >> yes, i do. i think they investigated the case for a long period of time. they claim that they pursue this investigation for over a year because they had rushed to judgment against o.j. simpson. they claim they had all their ducks in a row. they claim they had an ironclad case. they were leaking stories to the media because i would look at police reports and look at the way phrases were done in the police reports. i'd see the exact same phrase in "the national enquirer." clearly, they were building up for a high-profile case. i don't blame robert blake for being mad as hell at these people for what they did to him. >> he was particularly exercised by the way phil spector had been treated. got bail immediately. whereas in robert blake's case, he was put inside, as you say, in the worst jail in america for a year of his life, in a cement box, as he put it. why was he treated differently? >> first of all, the cases were
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filed differently. phil spector was charged with straight murder. you can get bail for $1 million right away. robert blake was charged with murder with special circumstances. which made him eligible for the death penalty. nobody had ever gotten bail in a case like that over prosecution objection in california till we got bail for him after a three-week preliminary hearing. >> you parted company with him. know you can't talk about the circumstances behind that. want to play another clip. when i confronted, really, about his sanity. >> do you think you're sane? do you think you have your full sanity? or has what's happened to you sent you slightly mad? what do you think? >> well, i'll tell you. i think i was born -- the truth is, i think i'm sort of a mutation or sub species. i think if i was born 10,000 years a i would have taken two three people, gone off, start another tribe. >> amazing reaction to this
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interview. i couldn't think of a better person to talk to about it. a lot of people said to me he's obviously crazy. others saying maybe he was acting. others saying, if he didn't do it, you can understand why he's like he is. lots of different opinions here about this. when you dealt with him, did you question his sanity at all? >> no, i didn't. i mean, he was troubled. he was hurt. he'd been through 11 months in los angeles county jail. much of it in isolation. terrible food. terrible conditions. you can't sleep. you can't get the medication you need. he was at an advanced age. he was wrongfully accused. i never questioned his insanity. robert is complex. he's intelligent. he's emotional. he's interesting. he's different. >> was he acting at all last night? some people said to me, look, don't let him pull the wool over your eyes. he's a great actor. to try to put himself back into the public domain. >> i don't think he was acting. i think he was being himself. people are always going to attribute, you know, suspicious motives, questionable, you know,
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characteristics, to people like robert blame wke who have been charged with serious crimes. he even said at one point he may have overreacted to some of your questions. >> i ended up the interview -- i wouldn't say feeling sorry for him but certainly feel ago lot of empathy for him. he had an awful childhood. awful upbringing. i kept in the back of my mind thinking, if he's innocent, as a court of law found him to never mind the civil case, which are always fraught with other complications. he was feeling suicidal at the time that happened and so on. if he's an innocent narnman thi one of the most outrageous things that have happened to a famous person in this town. >> he gets arrested. he gets thrown in jail for 11 months. then he waits for a year and a half, two years, for a criminal trial. no sooner does he win that, he has to go into a civil trial. so this is a horrible, horrible experience. as i said before, he was at advanced age.
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i'm sure it affected him terribly. it hurt his reputation. it hurt his career. he clearly wanted to act again. i don't blame him. >> how do you feel? at the made it very clear. the one thing he'd like to do is have another chance to make a movie. >> i hope he gets it. why not? clearly very gifted. part of his gifts was that he was different. maybe not always the easiest person to get along with. that's true of a lot of people. particularly successful talented people. i hope he gets the break. >> tom mesereau, thank you very much indeed. if you missed any part of my interview with robert blake, you can see the whole thing again tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. eastern. coming up, why one prominent critic says joe paterno was to blame.
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the most powerful men at penn state failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who sandusky victimized. mr. spanier, shultz, paterno and curley, never demonstrated, through actions or words, any concern for the safety and well-being of sandusky's victims. until after sandusky's arrest. >> former fbi director louis freeh who blasted penn state. join meg now for our other big
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story. two people pretty fired up. sports columnist at "daily beast." and lisa bloom, legal analyst. let me start with you, buzz. incredibly damning report by louis freeh. this line stood out for me. sobering finding is the total disregard for the safety and welfare of sandusky's child vict victims. it doesn't get worse than that, does it? >> no, it can't get any worse. except when i think it can't get any worse, it does get worse. complete blanket condemnation of penn state's conduct. based not on anonymous sources. based on evidence. based on e-mails. what is so hideous -- and this report reinforces it -- they did bend over backwards, mr. paterno and mr. spanier and mr. shultz and mr. curley. they bent over backwards not only to cover up the sexual abuse of jerry sandusky but to
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take care of jerry sandusky. to make sure he was insured for in retirement. to give him a pension payment. unprecedented in penn state history. to give him keys to all the buildings. to give him his own office. they didn't give a damn ever about any of those kids. >> in relation to joe paterno, buzz, i have always been disquieted by the kind of hero worship he's been attracting since this case first came to the public attention. clearly, he's now dead. and he can't say anything about this report. but it is so damning about joe patterno. i just think you can't call him a legend anymore. this is a man who harbored serious child abuse. he allowed a load more kids to get abused, didn't he? >> as the report says, once again, through documentation, through e-mails, he did know about the first alleged incident of sexual abuse involving jerry sandusky in 1998.
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he line e lied about that. he knew much more in terms of trying to cover it up. he lied about that. the man is not a legend. i'm sorry he's dead. in my mind, not only does he have no legacy left, he was a bad man. >> yeah, i'm afraid i agree with you. lisa, what happened to the other three senior people involved here? graham span yierspanier, former president. shultz. curley. they've all been strung out by this report. they are culpable of knowing about, harboring and allowing, therefore, automatically, to continue serious child abuse. what should happen to them? >> first of all, they should beive is civilly liable. children were raped because of their failure to stop it. it's not a sex scandal. it's child rape.
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in addition, they're called criminally with failing to report child abuse and with perjury. i think that's right as well. i'd like to see child endangerment charges brought against them. this report is crystal clear that these men at the top -- by the way, all the way down to the bottom, two, including three janitors, knew that children were being raped by this man at penn state. and they willfully closed their eyes to it. i mean, can you imagine? and you read the report. i've read most of it today. all 200-plus pages. for one person to say, my god, what about the children? what about this little boy that mcqueary saw? let's find him. let's make sure he's okay. you will never find that in this entire report. not one of the 400-plus witnesses. of the 3 million pieces of evidence. alludes to any concern for these little boys. >> buzz, you've called for the team at penn state to be banned from competition. in a posthumously published op-ed piece released this week by joe paterno. he said regardless of anyone's opinion of my actions or the
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actions of a handful of administrative officials in this matter, the ft is nothing alleged is an indictment of football. what do you say to that? >> i think it's ridiculous. i think it's ridiculous. this was all about the culture of football at penn state and protect the culture of penn state. lisa is right. no one should be excused. the janitors i felt put it honestly when they said, yes, we should have done something. joe paterno. it was like the president of the united states. he was the god of penn state. he controlled penn state. were terrified of him. had we said anything, we would have been fired. and it was all about joe paterno. about his ego. about that football program. make no mistake. the board of trustees could have done something today despite all this empty ridiculous stupid over and over groaning rhetoric. they could have said, we on our own are banning football for a year. to start ridding our school of a
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football culture. they did nothing. >> yeah. utterly shameful. let's turn to the robert blake case. you covered the original trial of robert blake. >> i did. >> you've heard what his lawyer at the time said, tom. what do you think? >> i have great respect for tom mesereau. i think there's no question that the civil jury got it right when they said he was legally responsible for his wife's death. the criminal trial was largely about bashing the victim and bonny of course wasn't around to defend herself. she'd done a lot of things wrong in this life. none of that justified her being killed. the trial was filled with evidence of people who said robert blake approached them and asked them to kill his wife. it was filled with testimony from her sister for example, that said, if anything happened to me, robert blake did it. the criminal jury said they didn't see it beyond a reasonable doubt. the civil jury said yes, beyond a preponderance of evidence. you could see his anger, by the way, with you, piers.
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how easily he was triggered to anger. i mean, imagine how he was with the woman that he didn't love. >> i agree, he was unbelievably defensive. he was putting words into my mouth. clearly, that's what's been going through his mind. the only question is, is it going through his mind because he's guilty or innocent. lisa bloom, thank you. thank you, buzz, as well. much appreciated. very sad day at penn state and everyone connected with it. next, dan rather joins me live. what does he think of the news? brain freeze cake donettes rolling hot dogs bag of ice anti-freeze wash and dry diesel self-serve fix a flat jumper cables 5% cashback signup for 5% cashback at gas stations through september. it pays to discover. a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day
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and now those network newscasts anchored through history by honest to god newsman with names like murrow and brinkley and cronkite and rather and russert. now they have to compete with the likes of me. a cable anchor who's in the exact same business as the producers of "jersey shore." >> jeff daniels. hbo's "newsroom." with me tonight is the real thing. dan rather, one of the most famous tv anchorman in history. also with access tv's "dan rather reports." congratulations. two emmy nominations for "dan rather roberteports." >> thank you, it's always an
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honor to be nominated for an emmi. >> the news of the day before we get to "newsroom." that is this penn state report. it really is deeply scandalous, isn't it? what do you make of it all, now that we know the lurid detail? >> well, it's heartbreaking to say the least. and outrageous. someone said on your program i think earlier this evening, it doesn't state it in full just to call it a scandal. this was a case of child rape and child molestation. you know, i have such respect for penn state. i worry about the students there. but we have to have our focus on the children. that's what was missing. nobody at the top, and for that matter, practically nobody at the bottom, chose any indication in the documentation that's out now of caring about the children. they have to be the focus. the victims are the people who have to be the focus. it's heartrending and extreme.
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this report today was sulfuress. let's use the word, those who have been lying about what happened, what really happened there. >> yeah, i completely agree. really quite disgraceful. you get a name check at the top there from will mcclevoi, this v anchorman. you i think are in the "loving it" camp. >> absolutely, "the newsroom," which is on hbo, is terrific. for a lot of reasons. for those who haven't watched it, it's a story of the battle for the soul of a big-time big network anchorman, the soul of his newscast, and on a broader scale, the soul of news itself. it is marvelously well acted. i think what happened in the reviews -- the very first segment, first episode, there's now been three episodes,
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including the one last sunday, got off to a somewhat preachy start. i didn't find it that way but i can fully understand why some people did. this is so well acted. piers, you know how hard it is to get the tone just right when you're doing a fiction piece about reality. and i've been there. i know what a newsroom is like. they have it dead in the bull's-eye dead on the money. it's the closest thing to "west wing," which was another sorkin production, we've had on network television. if they can keep up the quality, i'm not sure they can, but if they keep up the quality, this is going to be a classic. i don't know mr. sorkin. i don't know anybody on the program. i've never talked to them. i have no dog in this fight. except it is important that people understand what big-time television is like. what it's really like. as opposed to a lot of people would think it's like. >> there's a great moment where the head of the news division, a characte played by sam
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waterston, says, we're going to try the news. don't want content to drive demographics. how realistic is that premise for a modern cable news network do you think? >> well, this is what they've done so wonderfully. this is what i call the struggle for the soul of news. it's not realistic in today's big-time network television to say, look, we're going to concentrate on news that matters. news that's really important. there is a total emphasis on ratings, demographics, profits, stockholder value and the big-time salaries of the big corporate moguls. this is a variance with the sense we had in american news for a long time, including television news. it said, look, we're in business to make money. but we're going to give some time to public service in the public interest, not in our own profitmaking interest. that's all gone by the wayside now. that's what they're trying to
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underscore in this program, the "newsroom." i think it's very important for every citizen to understand that. i don't know if you saw last sunday night's episode. episode three. there they took into the boardroom. these are the kind of conversations that go on in boardrooms. in which the head of the corporation played wonderfully by jane fonda just says, look, i have business before people in congress. this is not a direct quote. but almost direct. i can't afford -- i don't want to stand for run things in the newscast that the people that i have business to do with before congress don't like. that's the reality of a lot of big conglomerate corporate news operations today, i'm sorry to say. >> yeah, i think there's lots of complexities i think to the news business. i think -- what i like about it, i love the passion of this show. i love the heart beat of it. i love the premise that news matters. i like the way that the anchor
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man goes through this kind of huge sea change in his own view backed by a good team. he says, we're just going for this. it's something invigorating about watching it. let's move on, dan. you've got a show on access tv called "it's a southern thing." which airs on tuesday. tell me about this. >> well, we've been looking into what's happened with the outbreak of hiv/aids. it became to big public notice in the early 1980s. there's been major, really momentum, changes for the better. there's been progress against hiv/aids, particularly in this country. however, much of that progres has passed over what we used to call the deep south. ten states in the southern region of the country. and what we've tried to do is investigate. do some deep digging, investigation. as to why that's true. what needs to be done. and also to call people's attention to it.
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things are much better with hiv/aids in places like san francisco, new york. however, in these southern states, that's not the case. part of this, someone might argue, well, look, we all know, there's a high percentage of people. who are victims of hiv/aids. but that's why we're doing the program. and why i think the program's worth watching. >> well, it's a very important program, dan. looking forward to watching it. it's on access tv. premieres tuesday, july 17th, at 8:00 p.m. it's always great having you on the show. especially when there's this show running about a legendary tv anchor. doesn't get more legendary than you, dan rather, so please come back soon. >> thank you, i'm unworthy of that, but i very much appreciate it, thanks a lot. >> appreciate it. >> when we come back, i'll ask tavis smiley and cornell west if this moment helped or hurt mitt romney. >> if you want thinks better in
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the african-american community, you are looking at him. you take a look.
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the mistake of my first couple of years was thinking that this job was just about getting the policy right. that's important.
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but, you know, the nature of this office is also to tell a story to the american people. that gives them a sense of unity and purpose and optimism. especially during tough times. >> president obama on cbs talking to charlie rose about mistakes he's made during his presidency. we'll get to that in a moment. i want to bring in two men who have a lot to say. tavis smiley and cornell west. co-authors of "the rich and the rest of us." welcome. you're separated but only by an expensive water and mountains. nothing that can stop us today. davis, straight away, about what barack obama said today. it's not just about the policy. has he got a point? is he right? >> he has a point. people have been making that point to him for three years now. make this point i think in the book "the rich and the rest of
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us." the way he campaigned so brilliantly. it's hard to think of a campaign run so brilliantly. they stayed on message. they controlled the narrative. brilliant campaign. somehow when they got to washington, they got off message. haves s nnot been able to get on track, as it were. campaigning and governing are two different things. everybody else in washington's been saying this for a couple years now. >> cornell, let me turn to you, about this sort of debate going on about whether he was right or wrong or whether it mattered at all. he didn't attend the naacp convention. mitt romney went. we'll listen to what happened to him in a moment. does it matter? the latest poll about his presidential approval rating from july 2nd to the 8th this year, so as current as it can be, says the black approval for him, 87%. white, 37%. gallup poll. pretty conclusive there that the black vote appears to be as
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strong as it's ever been for barack obama. so does it matter that he didn't go to that convention? >> i think that on the one hand he should have been there. but the issue's so much deeper than whether he should have been there or not. the issue is democracy is dying in america because truth, just and compassion are dying. when he talks about telling american people a story, no, that's not telling a story, it's respecting people enough to tell them the truth, so that they can discern their suffering and their hope in the story. the problem is too much van nasty going around. republicans and democrats. democrats are much better than republicans. but mitt romney, catastrophe. barack obama, three years, for poor people and working people, disaster. disaster is better than catastrophe. but what a choice. it's sad. >> let's watch the clip of mitt romney and discuss it. this is where he gets booed at
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the convention. >> i'm going to eliminate every nonessential extensionive program i can find. that includes obama care. and i'm going to work to reform and save -- [ audience booing ] >> now, davis, you mouthed the word "stupid" there. >> you weren't supposed to say that on air. >> i wasn't sure if you were going to say it on air. thought i'd jump in first. everything's on air here, baby. >> i feel like robert blake now. got to be careful what i say around here. no, when i say stupid. this is the problem that candidates have oftentimes. the same can be said of obama, that can be said of romney. we all saw that picture a few months ago of the obama campaign staff in chicago. white, white, white, white. great conversation about why the president doesn't have more people of color around him running his campaign. it's one thing to beg black folks for their vote. who's running the operation? dr. west made the point any
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number of times. the advisers around him in the white house came directly from wall street. is it any wonder they look out for their friends on wall street. the same can be said of mitt romney. when you don't have enough african-americans around you who has a conscience, this is what happens. who in their right mind would go to the naacp and use the phrase "obama care." call the legislation its official name. he got booed for using that phrase. >> he got booed for the phrase? actually a lot of people in the audience like obama care or whatever you want to call it? >> this is a very respectful audience. if he'd say, ladies and gentlemen, i know what i'm about to say, we disagree on. i ask for your attention. you've heard so much about what i think of of this in the media. let me now respectfully thank you for the invitation and let me offer you, now, why i disagree with the president on this issue. there would have been no booing. >> romney made a statement about the booing episode. he said if they want more stuff from the government, tell them to go vote for the other guy.
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more free stuff. but don't forget nothing is really free. tavis, what did you make of that? >> it smacks of ross perot some years ago referring to black people as you people. i'm paraphrasing by saying i want to earn your respect. the next day, he's referring to them as "they." if they want this, if they want that. here's the problem. whether obama or romney. one of them -- how might i put this? one of them is so cautious that he can't lead because he's afraid of losing. the other is so calculating that he can't lead because he's afraid of not winning. and that's the real problem with it. nobody -- everybody is trying to score points here. and so your question you asked of dr. west a moment ago may be born out by what he had to say today. maybe you're right. >> final question for you, cornell west. despite all this, do you believe barack obama has earned the right to have a second term? maybe he has learned some lessons about leadership and how to take on the republicans?
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>> i think given the narrowness of the political system and the truncated options that most americans have, there's no doubt that obama is better than romney. as i said before, catastrophe, your house is burning down nearly. disaster is on fire. when martin luther king said, are we interrogating into a burning house, he said, we need firemen. neither provide the kind of firemen and fire women we need to recoup, renew and reinvigorate the democracy for poor people, prisoners, working people, women, gays, lesbians, not special interest. there's truth, justice and compassion. those are the three pillars of any serious democracy. we are in deep trouble. >> tavis smiley, i can't let you go without mentioning robert blake. you and i are the only people to have interviewed him in the last decade. you did so recently for pbs. what did you make of it? >> i think tom mesereau is right what he said earlier in the
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program. he's troubled for the right reasons. ultimately i think quickly what he needs to do, if he wants to get back in the business, i can't imagine in this town that there isn't somebody who for all sorts of reasons wouldn't give him a part in a movie. if you want to get back in the business, get back in the business and work your way back in. i think what he ought to do is one, respectfully, don't trust people like piers morgan. he's like, i trust you, come on, robert, don't trust piers morgan. don't trust any interviewer. stay out of the interview chair and work his way back as any artist would through the process. not by these interviews. it's not serving him well quite frankly. >> i think the jury's out. i watched it ck on television last night. i was aghast. i was entertained. i was shocked. i was scared again. in the end of it, i couldn't decide if this was going to be a good thing for him going forward or a bad thing. i kind of ended up thinking it can't get any worse. but actually he may get a role out of this.
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cornell. >> i was glad to see the show. it was riveting television. tavis' interview was classic. your interview last night was magnificent because he was being himself. i love that about him. he's for real. what we need in america is the real thing. too many counterfeits circulating. >> maybe we should be look towards having him in a late run for the presidential race? >> no, wouldn't go that far. >> president robert blake. >> put him back on the set. as he said last night, he wants one last film. listen, hollywood. >> i've got to -- >> more of an auction than an election anyway. you got enough money, you're in. >> we'll leave it with president robert blake. tavis, cornell, thank you. next, actor and comedian john luigizimo joins me. out h, i have to know the weather patterns. i upgraded to the new sprint direct connect. so i can get three times the coverage. [ chirp ]
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of all the losers, you came in first place. i'm sorry to disappoint you, dad. no, it's not you, it's me. i got to get used to your failures. >> from last year's one-man broadway show. always outspoken john leguizamo. he's been acting for three decades. more than 50 films. he joins me now. john, welcome. >> hey, how are you, how's it going? >> good. what do you think about your extraordinary life? i've heard you describe
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yourself. you were born in bo ggota. a bit of italian, lebanese, puerto rican. just about every facet of human life in your blood. >> that's the modern man. i mean, that's what happens. i mean, you know, we like to mix. we like to mingle. >> when you look at your country now, obviously, you're a prime example of somebody who american has been good to you could argue. what do you think about the current debates in america with regard to immigration, with regard to the american n nationality, if you like? >> look what happened to me. i'm a perfect example of somebody who got his dream, you know, i came here to queens, humble origins. it was a tough thing, you know. when i came here, we were like the second latin family and white flight started to happen. you know white flight. it's not the snow goose.
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white people are starting to leave the neighborhood. that's when i came in. there was a lot of fighting. getting beat up, whatnot. i was a funny guy. i had to battle things with hui got a career out of it. i got a lifestyle and i got opportunity to hopefully elevate and educate and it can happen in america. this whole immigration thing is kind of, it saddens me. it angers me and saddens me. i feel like latin people, we've always been here. we discovered this country. i feel like it should be an open door. latin people should come and go. it was our country and it still is. >> did you have high expectations that the first african-american president would do a lot when it came to immigration? and has he lived up to that promise? or do you think there's other work still to be done? >> i love obama. i love everything he does and i feel like he is the most dignified president we've ever had. and he wants to do the best for this country.
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i've never met anybody who had so much heart and soul and wanted to do the right thing. he's had a hard time. congress doesn't play ball with him. congress rather undo this country than help the president. all the works programs he wanted to start. the health care, they slapped his hand. even the immigration thing, they slapped his hand. and now, obama is really stepping up and keeping up the promises to help immigration and get these people amnesty. >> when you hear some of the rhetoric from the republicans, and the tea party in particular, mitt romney, too, has been pretty tough about immigration. does it unnerve you? does it worry you if they are perhaps to take control, come november? >> yeah. it's terrifying. they think that it is okay to take kids out of schools, to stop a person and profile them because they look latin. you happen to be latin, they're going to stop you and check you for papers. i don't think that's cool. that's like nazi germany time.
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it is terrifying. and it saddens me that i'm in this country and i love this country and they would treat my people that way. it is disheaening? you have two children. 11 and 12. what do you say to them about the land of opportunity? the american dream? is it the same as when you were their age or has it changed? do they need to evolve with that change? >> well, obviously, america has changed a lot. i mean, it is not, it's not the easy climb as it used to be. a lot heard climb. still things can happen in this country. it is a big country. still a powerful country and we're doing better than a lot of other people. it is tougher. middle class is shrinking. i will my kids, you have to find a passion, first of all and be ready for adversity. turn adversity into a challenge. don't see problems as a problem. see them as a challenge and enjoy finding the solution. as a dad, you have to become a philosopher and that's what i'm
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trying to do. not to feel entitled, you know. i never felt entitled. and i think that's a good thing. >> they must absolutely love the fact that their dad keeps coming back to voice sid the slh in ice age. we've got the fourth installment now hitting the airwaves. let's take another look at this. >> mom, dad! >> see? he still hugs his parents. >> oh, my whole familia! i knew it, i knew it! i knew i wasn't abandoned. >> that's incorrect. we totally abandoned you. >> always forget that in america it is called a sloth. >> i like sloth. >> it sounds better. missile, hostile. you guys talk different. it's all right. >> do you like doing the ice age movies? >> i love them. the message is so beautiful, man. it is family is the most
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important thing and it doesn't matter that we have the same biological family. and we all could be different species but if we work together, we can make this a better planet. and be hilarious at the same time. i think that's why people come back to the series. it is funny but the message is really beautiful and i dig doing that sloth voice, sid the sloth. i got it from watching discovery channel, believe it or not, by a british guy. and he said sloths store food in their cheek pouches. they chew so slow that it ferments and it becomes alcohol and they get drunk and fall off the trees. that's how i created my character. thank you very much. >> it's been a real pleasure talking to you. ice age continental drift opens this weekend. also, on pbs. >> i'm the best sloth you've ever had. e points we earn with our citi thankyou card for a relaxing vacation. ♪ sometimes, we go for a ride in the park.
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for tonight, that winning look with the olympics only 15 days away. america's top athletes won't just be gunning for gold. they'll be to win the fashion contest, too. thisfull u.s. team collection design by ralph lauren. it was unveiled on the "today" show with plenty of panache. >> we've had this special opportunity to work with the team to look into their archives. very inspired by the 1948 games
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which is the last time that america competed in england. real old world elegance brought up to time. >> but as we've all cutting edge new fashion styles, the reaction has been instant and explosive, it's too british, screamed the critics. it is too french, scream others. appall by the parisian style. worst of all, it's made in china! that identifiable revelation sent senate majority leader harry reid into a meltdown. a patriotic fury. he doesn't just want the clothing changed. oh, no, he told abc news, they should take all the outfits, put them in a big pile, burn them and start all over again. whoa! easy there, senator! let's just calm down. maybe this isn't quite as awful as you think it is. he goes as far as to say it is a brilliant move by ralph lauren. what better way to show what a melting pots